Sunday, June 28, 2009

5 Places Lower Than Alan Carr & 51 Higher Than Elton John

The Independent on Sunday has today published its annual Pink List, the top 100 most influential gay people in Britain. It rightly questions whether it should be publishing such a list at all. After all, no one would publish a Top 100 Straights list, would they? But since it has appeared, it would be remiss of me not to point out that they've promoted me 18 places this year to 26. Nick Boles is the top rated Tory at number 10, I'm second, Sir Simon Milton is 29, Alan Duncan 7, Dan Ritterband 39, Margot James 46, Greg Barker 65, Matthew Parris 69, Nick Herbert 70, Andrew Pierce 72, Richard Barnes 82.

Quite how I am more influential than many of those - or for that matter Peter Tatchell, Paul O'Grady, Will Young, Nick Brown, Chris Bryant (only 49, bless) or Ben Summerskill I really don't know.

Anyway, here is the text of an article I wrote for the Indy on Sunday today....

ON THURSDAY I spent an hour signing letters to Tory MPs inviting them to attend a late night "Pride Party" at a gay nightclub in Canal Street in Manchester during the Tory party conference in October. It's being organised by the Tories as yet another signal that the party is entirely at ease with sexual equality and diversity. Ten years ago the Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality used to hold rather furtive fringe meetings in rather down-at-heel hotels, which 30 people – including a couple of MPs – might attend in a good year. Nowadays, it's rather different.

Sexuality isn't really an issue in the Tory party any longer. There are two gay members of the Shadow Cabinet, both of whom have entered civil partnerships in the last year. There are so many gay parliamentary candidates – both female and male – that no one bothers to keep count any more. And that's as it should be.

If you're a gay teacher, does it affect how you teach? If you're a gay electrician, does it affect your ability to rewire a house? Of course not. And at long last the Conservative Party has recognised that being gay should not be a bar to holding any position in politics. We have got to a point where it is quite possible to imagine Nick Herbert or Alan Duncan leading the Tory party with virtually no one raising an eyebrow. Remember, the Tories had the first Jewish-born Prime Minister and the first woman Prime Minister. I'd bet money they will also have the first gay and black PMs. Of course, not everything is perfect. There is the odd Tory MP who will no doubt rip up my letter in ill-disguised disgust, and there are no doubt a few Neanderthal types out there running local Tory associations. But you get this in all parties, not just the Tories. Homophobia certainly exists in politics, and probably always will. But the progress made over the last five years is astonishing, but our opponents have difficulty in recognising this and delight in trying to make the caricature of homophobic Tories stick.

This week the Tories set up a new group in the European Parliament which contains 15 members of the Polish Law and Justice Party. This party's record on equality issues is not exactly exemplary. Opposition politicians have been quick to accuse David Cameron of being only "skin deep" in his commitment to gay equality and ask how he can ally himself to homophobes. It's a fair question. The truth is that Labour and the LibDems also sit in Euro groupings with deeply suspect characters – some hold homophobic views, others are extreme Communists or worse. Law and Justice's lead MEP Adam Bielan responded to criticism by Denis MacShane last week by saying: "We are fully committed to human rights and equality under the law, and object to all forms of discrimination, whether on grounds of race, sex or sexual orientation." You can't get much clearer than that. But actions, of course, speak louder than words, and I will be looking at what Law & Justice do on the home front to stamp out the rampant homophobia that exists in much of Poland's society.

Bill Clinton invented the phrase "don't ask, don't tell" relating to gays in the US military. That used to be the maxim of gays in the Tory party. Nowadays it's different. The shock factor has disappeared and if anyone feels the need to announce they are gay, the declaration is treated with a massive shrug of the shoulders and a collective "so what?" As I say, that's exactly as it should be.

As someone else has already commented - how can Nick Boles @ 10th place be classed as the "Top rated Tory" when Alan Duncan a member of the Shadow Cabinet is @ 7th place ? Or is there likely to be a "shock announcement" soon ?

Iain - while I have no problem at all with the above, maybe you should mention Clause 61 of the Coroners and Justice Bill which removes the Free Speech Amendment in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

As a Conservative, you would agree that there ought to be the right to discuss and criticise sexual behaviour, would you not? Including that of your own?

Law and Justice are never going to 'stamp out homophobia' in Poland... Joining with them is one major instance of actions speaking louder than words....

It's immensely hard to believe Cameron's anything other than deeply homophobic when he voluntarily joins with these people. (and taking your mark from the midden is the lowest form of excuse. Others do it so we can too? I don't think so...)

The day people stop asking my gender/colour/race/sexuality on official paperwork is the one that will mark true equality in this country, stop defining people by single aspects and start focusing on the person as a whole.

It was only a couple of months ago I learned Mandelson was gay, it made no difference to my opinion of him and I still fail to see what relevance it holds in his ability to do his job(s).

Today I learned that David Starkey, a personal hero of mine, is also gay and to be honest I'm more annoyed that some feel his sexual orientation is in any way relevant to his amazing ability to engage his listeners and bring history to life.

Ask any non-white politician how he or she feels when defined as a black/asian/coloured MP, a definition which completely ignores the person's character, skills, experience & intelligence but instead boxes then by a minor superficial aspect.

Or how about a disabled person, is the functionality of their bodies all we need to know to judge them as people?

Make a big deal, positive or negative, about any aspect of a person and you invite vehemently opposite viewpoints. Sexuality is just one aspect of a person and lets face it, its not something you can change.

On that basis, can we define people by eye colour next then produce a list of the top 100 green eyed people. Don't worry about defining a specific level of detail in green-ness, regardless of the fact that there is a massive range to choose from, we'll lump the lot together under one nice easy label.

Lets revel in the diversity of the eye colour people are genetically pre-disposed to have, by singling out just one and making a really big deal about it. On the other hand we could just ignore the whole eye colour thing as an irrelevant, superficial detail in a species of complex and wildly varying individuals. Sexuality is no more a matter of choice than the colouring of a body part, it is therefore immaterial.

While your at it, define me, I'll give you a clue, have several hundred definitions depending on who you are talking to and in being unaware of my definition you are left with no recourse but to judge my comment solely on its content.

or a lesbian in serious contention. Tho' this is the boy's world, so the rest of us don't count, clearly (not a woman in Ian's list. I don't get the Indie on Sundays, so don't know if there were any on theirs...)

It would be good, I agree, not to have to define ourselves by sexuality, colour, race, spiritual path or anything else that separates us from the common weal.

But we're so very, very far from that just now that pretending we're integrated is simply yet another form of internalised homophobia. I can be quiet about my sexuality, or I can be open. Only by being open do we get past the straight fiction that 'nobody I know is gay,' which is still voiced too often and with too much false hope.

Respect Iain for getting on the list- well deserved. My only minor observation is that the list is light on business men and women - its great that journos and politicos are there - and dominate the top posts - but we must alo value our lesbian and gay colleagues in business (including mainstream business - not just gay companies)

"We have got to a point where it is quite possible to imagine Nick Herbert or Alan Duncan leading the Tory party with virtually no one raising an eyebrow."

Oh, come off it Iain. Britain's more likely to submit to Islamic law than Alan Duncan persuade his colleagues in parliament that he should lead them. There's a difference between no-one raising an eyebrow about you being gay and you being regarded as incompetent and a nuisance by your colleagues.

I do think it is somewhat odd Iain that this list is still produced. Beyond a few notables (Peter Mandelson, Ian McKellen, Elton John etc) I did not know that many of the names I recognise (and there are many many I don't)were gay e.g. Clare Balding, Fiona Shaw which shows how irrelevant it is.

Of the people for whom I have high regard who happen to be gay it is almost always irrelevant to their prominence - Martina Navratilova for example or Matthew Parris (who always seemed to me to be the ideal conservative.

The only people I can think of for whom it is part of their fame are people like Julian Clary for whom camping it up is an important part of his act.

The only time I can see that someone's sexual orientation is important is when they are influencing or attempting to influence public policy in this area.

Oh Boring! I couldn't give a toss who's gay & who's not, and I object to these sorts of lists, because they encourage the differences between heteros and homos. As you say Iain - you don't have lists on the most influential heteros - do you? Seriously - who cares?

I think Clinton was well advised in saying "don't ask", "don't tell" in the armed forces.Try to imagine a young "straight" recruit having to share a cabin or barrack room with one or two openly gay colleagues.Don't expect a young lad from Redruth or Barnsley to be confident or sophisticated enough to cope.

Changing the subject slightly:The loony left National Union of Teachers is trying to ban BNP members from teaching posts.Anyone with any experience of teaching knows that whatever you say to children goes straight back to parents at the end of the day.There would be no chance of right wing brainwashing.Even Trotskyite NUT members, of which there are many, have more sense to prosletise in school.My experience is that teachers leave their political views at home. Otherwise they would be sacked.

This is a perfect example of the controlled media deliberately and covertly "brain washing" the population by subversive manipulation. It happens all the time of course.

Here the normality of homosexuality is being rammed down our throats once again. Why, when clearly this condition is very abnormal? I am not suggesting that homosexuals should be villified at all, simply that their condition is clearly unnatural and abnormal and we should not be forced in any way of believing it is normal.

Hopefully, as medicine progresses, we can help these individuals to reverse their abnormality and all effort should be made to assist them to return to amore traditional and indeed acceptable (to some) lifestyle.

BTW, I think you will find that Heath was not only a traitor but also a homosxual.

I think you are being too optimistic Iain. Homophobic attitudes are still pervasive (just look at Bird's shock at the thought that a straight soldier might have to share barracks with gay colleagues; or trevorsden's lazy equation of homosequality with dress-making). Unfortunately, many of those views are still prevalent in the Conservative party. Ambitious MPs and aspirant MPs might have learned how to keep a lid on their views, but a significant number of Tory MPs come out with quite breathtakingly bigoted comments in private. I have worked in Parliament for almost a decade and I've heard them. One of the reasons Speaker Bercow is so detested by some members of his former party is because he's supported an equal age of consent and gay adoption.

several old school tories on here - unless someone's got a huge, fat streak of irony that's gone beyond a joke.

one day, it won't matter. Today, it still does. And this is Pride Week. 40 years since the Stonewall riots. Without them, we'd still be languishing in the stone age and nobody would be printing any lists.

A new councillor "came out" after a generous slug of gin at a recent party c3am. The overwhelming response was "so what"? Our only concern was that he was probably too badly dressed for the news to be taken seriously.

The Tory party of 2009 is a differentand much better beast than the Tory Party I joined in 1978. Long may it continue.